83 posts from February 2007

February 28, 2007

Do any of you know anything about Lazar Yitzchok glatt beef? It's a Canadian brand, I'm told, with COR supervision. I'd like to know the method of shechita, if the triefe byproduct of the shechita is sold to McDonalds or any major fast food or supermarket chains, and any other information available. Readers?

A reader sent me the following rough translation of an article that appeared in Ma'ariv yesterday. In effect what the article claims is that some Orthodox groups in Israel have formed a "forum" to handle sexual harassment and abuse cases where the victim(s) is afraid to go to the police. This forum goes to the abuser and tells him that either he cooperates with them or they go to the police with the information. Conversely, they tell the victim that she must testify before them or they will make her name public.

I think this can work in a society that grants religious courts bailiff powers – but only with real oversight. The forum claims it is the perfect vehicle to deal with high ranking rabbinic offenders. Why? Their solution is to ban the offender from teaching or holding other posts within the community that would allow him easy access to more victims. Of course, this offender can at any time leave Israel and resume his life as normal anywhere else he chooses. How this forum could ever deal with that is unclear.

It appears to me this forum may have been set up to prevent victims from going to the police and that the supposed punishments handed out will only ensure that abusers will abuse – but outside communities that use the forum. It also does nothing to prevent abusers from abusing neighbors, people they meet on the bus or in the store, etc. A flawed solution, at best.

Translation (which I slightly edited for clarity) after the jump, along with the Hebrew article.

The YU Museum has an exhibit of photographs of Jews taken in Poland before the Holocaust. Those not familar with the history may be shocked at the number of Jews without beards or head coverings. Unlike what your rabbis may have told you, the vast majority of Poland's Jews were no longer Orthodox in observance by the 1920s. The above couple, for example, is from the 'hometown' of the Noam Elimelech. Not what one would expect if he learned his history from Yated Ne'eman, HaModia, Rabbi Paysach Krohn, or in yeshiva or seminary.

Elie Wiesel, when he saw this homespun collection, is said to have told
friends that you want to grab these people and warn them: “Run away! Do
something!” But of course most Jews did not perceive the scope of the
menace they faced.

Jewish history has several Purims. The most famous (and, perhaps, the least true) is the Purim we will celebrate this Saturday night and Sunday. And then there is the Purim of Frankfort-on-Main, celebrating the deliverance (by the mayor, his troops and the emperor, no less) from mob violence and the ransacking of the ghetto.

And there are others. One of these is rarely mentioned. It took place not long before the time of the Hanukkah story and involves an amazing miracle. Yet rabbis do not talk about it and we do not commemorate it. Why?

First, the story of this Purim as told by Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg in yesterday's Jerusalem Post:

…THE THEME of Purim, the threat of annihilation and ultimate salvation, has played itself out over and over again in Jewish history. In happened, for instance, in Ptolemaic Egypt, according to the Third Book of Maccabees, when Ptolemy IV Philopator turned against the Jews.

After his stunning victory over the forces of Antiochus III at Rafiah in 217 BCE, he visited Jerusalem in triumph and requested to enter the Temple and the Holy of Holies as a mark of gratitude.

To his astonishment, Ptolemy was refused by the priests. Such an insult was not to be borne and Ptolemy took his revenge on the Jews of Alexandria by concentrating them all in the Hippodrome and forcing them to stay there until he had mustered his army and their elephants to trample them to death.

Came the auspicious day and the troops plied their elephants with drink to egg them on to charge into the crowd of defenseless Jews - men, women and children.

As the order to advance was given, the drunken elephants hesitated, turned and stampeded over their tormentors, crushing the Egyptian army underfoot and leaving the Jews standing in wonder.…

Yes, that's right. A lifesaving miracle happened to a huge number of Jews and the story is directly linked to the Temple. Why don't we celebrate this? Let me posit three reasons:

Police on Tuesday detained for questioning Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, the head of the Jerusalem Temple Institute, on suspicion of threatening GOC Central Command Yair Naveh's life and inciting violence..

Ariel was allegedly involved in the issuance of a halakhic ruling against Major General Naveh because of authorization of restraining orders against West Bank settlers. According to the ruling, in signing such orders, Naveh was guilty of crimes punishable by death according to Jewish law.

Ariel has been transferred to the investigation offices of the Jerusalem Police's central unit, where he is relating his version of events.

In mid-January Ariel, along with a group of rabbis linked to the revived Sanhedrin movement - or high court of Jewish law – allegedly issued a letter ruling that Naveh was guilty of three crimes: "Causing the masses to sin"; being a "moser" - someone who informs against fellow Jews or hands over Jews or Jewish land to gentiles; and terrifying the public in a blasphemous way."

In their decision, the rabbis referred to a ruling made by the 12th century Jewish philosopher Maimonides, according to which "it is permissible to kill a moser everywhere, even in this time when the courts do not rule on capital cases."

About a month ago, the State Prosecution decided to open a criminal investigation against the signatories to the halakhic ruling, who include Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, the head of the Jerusalem Temple Institute; Rabbi Yehuda Edrey, of the movement to rebuild the temple; Bar Ilan Literature Professor Hillel Weiss; Rabbi Rueven Hass and Rabbi Ido Alba.

Deputy State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan instructed the police to examine how the document was issued and in what circles, because a person cannot be convicted of inciting violence if his or her statements were not published.…

Then Ha'aretz adds a ponted jab at the Sanhedrin itself:

Nitzan also ordered the police to try to determine the size of the population that adheres to rulings issued by the Sanhedrin movement's high court of Jewish law, as the law states that an incitement conviction warrants proof of a "real possibility" that the incitement would provoke violent acts.

I wonder if there is a siding scale of punishment – after all, the only people who follow these nut jobs are other nut jobs. Unfortunately, those nut jobs make up a significant portion of Israel's religious right wing.

Prof. Hillel Weiss, a member of the rabbinic court that issued the halachic decision, said the detention was an attempt to intimidate his court.

"We refuse to change the way the court makes its decision," said Weiss. "All of our rulings are based on the Torah. I stand behind the president of the rabbinic court [Ariel] even if it means we will be the next Pollards and sit in prison for years."

Amen, sela. Padded cells for them all!

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz still heads this collection of loons. Sad. He should walk away from this insanity. But, worse yet, the Jerusalem Post is reporting that Steinsaltz will be the keynote speaker at the Sanhedrin's annual fundraising dinner, scheduled, by the way, for today. Among the honored guests is Moshe Feiglin, the uber-right-wing nationalist who, one would think, should distance himself from this insanity. That he has not speaks volumes about his true intentions.

February 27, 2007

Startling Discoveries In Tomb Linked To Family Of ChristNewly-found artifacts may lead to a "Complete Reassessment of both Judaism and Christianity," scholars claim

Archaeologists working in the tomb in Jerusalem linked by some to the family of Jesus Christ have made what they term "startling discoveries." As the archaeological team went through the tomb, documenting it's current condition and contents before resealing the entrance, noticed a small bulge in a rear wall. When examining it, stones, believe to have remained in place for almost 2000 years, came loose, revealing a small antechamber originally accessible, the archaeologists believe, by a narrow corridor several meters forward that is now choked with debris. The archaeologists mistook that corridor for an imperfection, similar to the imperfection in the tomb's south wall that was discovered and excavated ten years ago.

When the archaeologists entered the antechamber, a small cube-like room measuring four meters by four and one half meters by four meters, the were startled to find mummified remains of artifacts from the late Second Temple era. Amos Kilstein, the archaeologist leading the dig, said his hands trembled and "tears welled up in my eyes and flowed like streams down my face," when he realized what he had found.

Contents of the antechamber, include several mummified fur felt Fedora-style hats, the remnants of two yellow flags, almost completely crumbled with age, containing messianic inscriptions in ancient Hebrew script, and a scroll containing Gnostic teachings that begins "It has been taught …"

Kilstein believes this small chamber served as "a type of prayer or meditation room" for pilgrims who came to visit the graves of their leader and his family. "It is like the ultra-Orthodox do with the grave of Rabbi Bar Yohai in Meron, but on a much smaller scale," Kilstein said.

"The scroll, and the flags, which appear to tout the tomb's most important occupant as the messiah, will necessarily lead to a complete reassessment of Christianity and Judaism, its parent religion," said Hillary Bathcome, a professor of Ancient and Near Eastern History and an expert on religion formation at Tufts-Weslyann-United Theological Seminary in Maine who was present as the antechamber was excavated. "Perhaps he was a Pharisee, after all."

… Ryan Karben, the attorney representing the congregation, said he expected it to come before the zoning board no earlier than April.

"I don't believe there will be any tenants," beyond the rabbi's residence, Karben said. "The apartments are being removed."

The changes sought would remove the violations against the property, and again make it eligible for tax-exempt status.

It had a 100 percent religious exemption from property taxes in 2002, but that was reduced to a 67 percent exemption in 2004 when the town couldn't confirm the occupancy of one of the apartments.

Ramapo Assessor Scott Shedler petitioned the Assessment Review Board last year to make the property fully taxable after town inspectors discovered the illegal apartment.

The inspectors were also unable to find a synagogue on the site.

Violations filed against the property last year are still pending in Town Court. The next court date is April 19 before Justice Arnold Etelson.

In a description of the planned local house of worship - that implies that congregants will walk from the immediate area - Karben told the town that Rabbi Gedalia Oberlander will convert one of the apartments "into a small worship area."

Karben stated in the document filed with the Building Department that "the congregation is exceedingly small, comprised of approximately 20 congregants who are primarily Rabbi Oberlander's relatives."

The 5,127-square-foot house has a taxable value of $109,000, according to the Assessor's Office.

If the property gets the 100 percent exemption, it will be freed of tax bills totaling about $15,000 annually.…

are you saying that Chasidus is avoda zara? what limitations do you think the Rebbe has?

Moderator :

What is particularly confusing is that the Rebbe stated about the FR that he was "atzmus and mehus in a guf". This is a very explosive statement and seemingly 'wrong'. And hte Rebbe provided no explanation for this.

If you learn Chasidus, it's explained. Problem is, girls especially are often clueless about Chasidus. Shluchos too. I read this the other day in Lessons in Tanya:Quote:In the World of Atzilut nothing exists which is separate from G‑dliness; nothing at that level feels that it exists independently of G‑d, and everything in Atzilut is totally nullified to G‑dliness.The Nasi, the Rebbe is a soul from Atzilus. Therefore, as a soul melubash in a guf, he has no will of his own. He is not separate from G-dliness in any sense.

Poster Ten : I dont see the confusion. We are all atzmus umihus melubash beguf- its called a neshama - thats exactly what a neshama is just the Rebbes is on a higher level and more revealed. of course the Rebbe is is no way meaning he is Hashem and by the way some people take it to mean that literally. anyone who does is serving avoda zara

Moderator :

I dont see the confusion. We are all atzmus umihus melubash beguf- its called a neshama - thats exactly what a neshama is just the Rebbes is on a higher level and more revealed.

No, that's not what the Rebbe said. The Rebbe didn't say "we are all ..." He said it on the Rebbe! The difference between Hashem and the Rebbe? Easy! Hashem created the Rebbe Hashem created the Rebbe, a human being, with G-dly powers.

I spoke with a Chabad rabbi tonight. I pointed out that the Rebbe was not perfect. That ended our conversation, exactly the same way a conversation I had with his wife about one year ago ended. He shook his head and walked away. She told me then that if I say the Rebbe was not perfect,, I "do not understand what a Rebbe is." Both lifetime Chabad members. Both from learned families. Both quite learned themselves. Both teach. Neither is crazy.They're good people.

This comment was left to OnionSoupMIx's post. I think it explains the problem quite well:

When I was in yeshiva at a farbrengen, when the Rebbe was still ... er ... revealed in a physical body, an older bachur stated (with all rabbis present giving a mighty smiling hurumph of assent) that if you mean by "the Rebbe is human" that he is a soul in a body then it is so, but if you mean that the rebbe has human limitations, then CHAS V'CHALILAH to say it. As such, the Rebbe has no human limitations, and even his holy body is only so that he can communicate G-d's will to us.

This was 20 years ago.

I point out the exchange in the NT, that the fictional protagonist is confronted as being declared the son of god, and he responds with a paraphrase of a pasuk that "we are all sons of the living god".

But this is not what they mean, now, is it? When they say that the Rebbe is divine, they do not mean it as they say that rebeljew is also divine just like the Rebbe. They do not sing Yechi for me and you. So which is it? Is there something special about the Rebbe's divinity that you could not say about (for instance) the Vilna Gaon of even the Alter Rebbe? In not, what is special about the Rebbe? If so, define what it means that Rebbe is more divine or differently deivine than all these others.

PS It did not work in the protagonist of the NT's favor either.

RJ

Chabad theology is at its root idol worship. The good news is many of the commenters on that thread are not buying into it.

AGENDA:1) Child Abuse: a discussion of recent developments regarding this sensitive topic, and some of the steps Agudath Israel hopes to take in the weeks and months ahead to help address this problem.2) Rabbi Mordechai Biser, head of our Constituent Services Division, will provide us with an in-depth report of this extremely important department.3) Dialogue with Avi Schick: Avi, who was a high ranking official in the office of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, has been appointed by Governor Spitzer to serve as President of the Empire State Development Corporation and continue to serve as close confidant of Mr. Spitzer. We will have a chance to discuss the new Governor’s priorities, and some of his specific proposals that could have a major impact on our community.

I would not normally take the entire email but I want to make sure that it is archived. Hopefully SIW will have more inside information soon.

February 26, 2007

Aish HaTorah, using the name of one of its many subsidiaries and shadow organizations, makes a film on Islamic terror. Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against The West did not find normal distribution. (It did air on Fox News awhile back and I gave the film some free PR related to those airings.) So it is being distributed in part by the Hasbara Fellowships, another part of Aish HaTorah. All this is fine with with me, except for how Aish is handling that distribution according to the New York Times:

…When a Middle East discussion group organized a showing at New York University recently, it found that the distributors of “Obsession” were requiring those in attendance to register at IsraelActivism.com, and that digital pictures of the events be sent to Hasbara Fellowships, a group set up to counter anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses.

“If people have to give their names over to Hasbara Fellowships at the door, that doesn’t have the effect of stimulating open dialogue,” said Jordan J. Dunn, president of the Middle East Dialogue Group of New York University, which mixes Jews and Muslims. “Rather, it intimidates people and stifles dissent.”…

What it also does is give Aish HaTorah a huge list of college-age Jews they can target with haredi missionary propaganda which, no doubt, is a major goal.

Steven I. Weiss, editor and publisher of CampusJ.com, an Internet site that covers Jewish news on campuses, said he was surprised by the Jewish skepticism to the film at N.Y.U. “Were a Jewish leader from virtually any significant organization to walk in on that discussion,” he said, “they’d be very surprised and displeased. This is the opposite of the change they’ve been looking for in campus rhetoric.”

Perhaps, SIW, it is the Aish missionary machine that spawned a chunk of that skepticism.

In a tangential note, my friend Arie Zmora is the focus of the lead story on Campus J today. Serendipity, no doubt. And only like maybe three degrees of separation.

…"I don't blame the extremists. It's their nature to be extreme. I blame the silent mainstream, which allows the injustice to take place. Their silence is costly, because people have already paid a price as a result of it."

He is less forgiving of the "theological concept" that developed in anti-disengagement circles and gained popularity on Internet forums frequented by young Religious Zionists.

Those who subscribe to this approach, which in religious jargon is called "measure for measure," [mida k'negged mida] believe that anyone who had a part in the disengagement has been the victim of divine punishment. That is how they explain the downfall of many public and political figures, whether as a result of illness (Sharon), legal intervention (Moshe Katsav, Haim Ramon, Ehud Olmert) or some other reason (Bassi).

"Now police chief Moshe Karadi has also suffered, and that is supposed to be clear proof of the argument," he says cynically. "I reject that from a religious point of view. To enlist the Shekhina [the Divine Presence] in order to support or oppose your political opinion? That is manipulative.

"What is hiding behind this is an entire theology of a war between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness. Like the Essenes, these speakers also claim that until all of society sees the light, we will live in our sect, with our own internal language and according to our rules of behavior, and for example, we will advocate refusal of orders and disengagement from society. In the end they will be spewed out like the Essenes."…

I would point out the Essenes may (or may not) have been "spewed out." The Zealots, Sicarri, and other thugs should have been tossed out. They were not, largely because the leaders of that time, including the rabbis we revere, were too afraid to act. The Second Temple was destroyed as a result.

For all of you who complain about how the former Gaza settlers are treated by the government, Rabbi Cherlow notes:

Five days before the disengagement, rabbis Yuval Cherlow and Shai Peron, the heads of the Petah Tikva hesder yeshiva, were invited to meet with Ariel Sharon. The two raised the issue of compensation for the evacuees during their meeting with the prime minister. While they agreed on a series of additional benefits for the evacuees, their initiative - to their surprise, says Cherlow - was met with sharp criticism in the Religious Zionist community.

"Our view was that it was necessary to cooperate with the government," he says. "But immediately after the meeting with the prime minister, we were attacked by our fellow rabbis, who said things like, 'who goes to speak with the hangman?' and 'who cooperates with the gravedigger?'"…

That's right. This is more proof that a large portion of the problems faced by former Gaza settlers can be traced directly to the rabbis who led them. (Rabbis and Zealots together again. Makes one take pause, does it not?)

There is much more in the article that I do not have time to quote, including a bit about the various splits in the now-fractured National Religious community. Make sure to spend a minute reading it, if you can.

A man went to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein with what he considered to be "halakhic proof" that rhubarb should be classified as kitniyot and hence forbidden to Ashkenazim on Passover. Rabbi Feinstein is said to have dismissed the man by saying, "Corn wasn't enough for you?" Does anyone know who this man was?

February 25, 2007

Ynet is reporting that Venezuelean President Hugo Chávez's request to pay an official visit to a Chabad synagogue in Caracas was rejected by Chabad's Rabbi Moshe Perman, the chief Chabad representative in the country. Perman argued that was aimed at garnering political gains for Chávez in light of the West's revulsion for Chávez and his actions which, Ynet reports, include:

…Chávez who has been in office since 1999, allied with Saddam Hussein at the time, befriended Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar Assad, and has even paid them personal visits.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center has accused him of anti-Semitism after in one of his speeches he accused the Jews of crucifying Jesus and of holding the entire world's capital.

Since 2002, when he accused the Israeli Mossad of an attempted coup in his country, the Jewish community is fearful of his conduct.…

Ynet adds there are 25,300 Jews in Venezuela, 60% of whom are Ashkenazim and 40% Sefardim.

February 23, 2007

My friend Simcha Jacobovici and his friend James Cameron think they have found the burial cave of Jesus and his family. Ynet reports:

…If it proves true, the discovery, which will be revealed at a press conference in New York Monday, could shake up the Christian world as one of the most significant archeological finds in history.

The coffins which, according to the filmmakers held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene will be displayed for the first time on Monday in New York.

Jointly produced by Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and Oscar winning director James Cameron, the film tells the exciting and tortuous story of the archeological discovery.

The story starts in 1980 in Jerusalem’s Talpiyot neighborhood, with the discovery of a 2,000 year old cave containing ten coffins. Six of the ten coffins were carved with inscriptions reading the names: Jesua son of Joseph, Mary, Mary, Matthew, Jofa (Joseph, identified as Jesus’ brother), Judah son of Jesua (Jesus’ son - the filmmakers claim).

Decades of researchThe findings in the cave, including the decipherment of the inscriptions, were first revealed about ten years ago by internationally renowned Israeli archeologist Professor Amos Kloner.

Since their discovery, the caskets were kept in the Israeli Antiquities Authority archive in Beit Shemesh, but now two have been sent to New York for their first public exhibition.

Although the cave was discovered nearly 30 years ago and the casket inscriptions decoded ten years ago, the filmmakers are the first to establish that the cave was in fact the burial site of Jesus and his family.

The findings challenge the traditional Christian belief that Jesus was resurrected three days after his burial and only later rose to heaven.

The film, which documents the stages of the discovery, is the result of three years labor and research. It will be broadcast on the international Discovery Channel, Britain's Channel 4, Canada’s Vision and Israel’s Channel 8, which also took part in the film's production.

According to the filmmakers, the film’s claim is based on close work with world-famous scientists, archeologists, statisticians, DNA specialists and antiquities experts.

Mississippi Fred has a put up a small booklet written in Spanish on shechita and bedika published in London in 1733. (Most of English Jewry was then Sefardic.) The above illustration comes from that booklet. It shows an animal that has been cast to the ground. The shochet is about to slaughter the animal as his helper controls the animals head using a stick and chain. The animal's right hind leg is chained to the wall, and his left hind leg and left fore leg appear to be chained together. The pit in the right foreground seems to be for the drainage of blood. Both Rubashkin and Alle import meat from South America that is still killed through casting.

Luke Ford has a report (including audio) of a panel of rabbis responding to challenges to Orthodoxy from Dennis Prager. Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein was one of these rabbis, and Luke has assembled a few choice quotes for us. [I added the numbers for clarity.]:

1. Rabbi Adlerstein: “The real purpose of this gathering is to arm ourselves to be better ambassadors for Torah.”

2. “What the vast majority of people want is assurance. They want to know that they are not being fools.”

3. “At the end of our long galus [dispersion], we don’t always have the tools we had in previous generations. In the nineteenth century, when Biblical Criticism was a threat to the community, we had some of the chief gedolim such as the Malbim who dropped parts of their career and threw themselves into answering the questions of early Biblical Criticism.

4. “We are hard-pressed to find people at the top of the pantheon of Torah leadership today throwing themselves into the arena of exploring some of the challenges, such as science…”

5. “There are some people (mockers, skeptics) you don’t engage with.”…

Let's take these in order:

Try being ambassadors for truth. Refuse to lie or to stand by when other rabbis lie. Refuse to cover up for your rabbinic friends. Fight for truth and fairness. The Torah doesn't need your ambassadorship. Truth does.

You've been fools for years now. The Indian hair wig ban, the Rabbi Slifkin ban, the stealing and fraud, the abuse coverups – if rabbis do not want to be viewed as fools, stop acting like fools.

If the Malbim lived today, your gedolim would ban him just as they banned Rabbi Slifkin.

Think Slifkin ban. Could that be why? Hello?

What you really mean is you avoid those of us who refuse to honor you and who issue strong challenges. You do this because you have no answers. You also have no balls.

According to an audit performed by the Accountant General, NGOs received billions of shekels illegally in 2006.

The audit revealed that in a large number of elementary schools, nearly all in the ultra-Orthodox school system, students were held back a year - but only on record, which enabled the institutions to obtain extra budgeting.

This practice continued for six years, and resulted in a hefty amount - NIS 50 million of ill-begotten funding. In another instance, the principal of a school was arrested one year ago, following a complaint filed to the police, on the suspicion that he had received more than a million shekels from the Ministry of Education by falsely reporting on students and teachers.…

What can be said about this except that we should stop funding all haredi institutions immediately. They do not deserve our tax dollars or our donations.

Remember those semi-official peace talks between Israel and Syria? The ones that were denied by Israel? The ones that many Jewish leaders said were not taking place? Well, Ha'aretz, which broke that story now reports that US Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice has told PM Olmert in no uncertain terms to abort those talks:

When Israeli officials asked Secretary Rice about the possibility of exploring the seriousness of Syria in its calls for peace talks, her response was unequivocal: Don't even think about it.

Why? Officially, because Syria continues to arm Hezbolla and Iraqi terror groups. I would suspect that, beyond the concern for Syria's dangerous meddling in Iraq and Lebanon, the US has lost confidence in Olmert's leadership to such an extent that it does not view him as being competent enough to make a secure peace.

February 22, 2007

VosIzNeias is reporting that Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz has passed away. Rabbi Blumenkrantz was known for his Passover guides, in which he occasionally championed extreme positions, including an attempt several years ago to ban the use of Styrofoam plates, cups, bowls, etc., even for year-round use, based on his understanding of the halakhot surrounding their production, which involves minute amounts of non-kosher ingredients.

Is Israel cheating Gaza settlers out of their just compensation? Or were the settlers cheating Israel for many years prior to withdrawal? Ha'aretz reports:

…Has the state really abandoned the evacuees from Gush Katif? They say it has - mainly when it comes to the 700 businessmen from the region. The state is compensating them fairly for the value of their businesses in the Gaza Strip, they say. But, they argue, there is a vast gap between what their businesses were worth there, and what they'd be worth elsewhere in Israel.

In other words, they argue that the fair value for their businesses is not enough to open comparable businesses in Israel.

Now, the state offered each of the 700 the choice among two alternative forms of compensation. The financial avenue was payment of the full value of the business, according to its profits - and any assumptions regarding profit were skewed in favor of the businessman. There is no dispute that people given their full profits and then some were adequately compensated.

The problem is that only about 30 percent of businessmen chose that avenue. The rest will therefore have to settle for the other avenue, based on assets. Why didn't they choose the first option? Because their businesses were losing money. Absent profits, the businessmen were offered compensation based on the value of their assets. Again, valuations were skewed in their favor.

For instance, the government compensated land based on the land values in Ashkelon's industrial zone, not according to the practically nonexistent value of land in Gaza. And the evacuees received compensation even though these business owners took their equipment with them, or sold it to Palestinians (as happened with the greenhouses).

Also, the state is offering grants equivalent to tens of percent of the compensation amount, to help build a new business. According to Sela's own calculations, and those of the Agriculture Ministry, the grants and compensation together rose beyond the cost of a whole new greenhouse, though the greenhouses in the Strip had not been new.

Other businessmen were also offered grants, free land, and exemptions from arnona municipal tax for ten years if they agreed to build their business in the industrial zone by Netivot.

Why, then, do the evacuee businessmen complain that they can't rebuild their businesses? There are apparently two answers.

One, which arises openly in conversation with the evacuees, is that the large proportion of businesses ostensibly operating in the red in Gaza had been misrepresenting their condition for tax purposes. That is why the new legislative proposal suggests a third avenue for compensation, based on the price of a new business inside Israel, irrespective of whether the original business was making money or not.

As for the second answer, Uri Ariel told TheMarker, "It's true that they paid more than the value of a greenhouse in Israel, but that doesn't restore the livelihood the evacuees had. In the Strip they had cheap Palestinian labor, cheap water, and didn't need to heat the greenhouses. Now they don't have all that and their livelihood is hurt."

In his words, he admits to a bitter truism about Gaza: Most of the businesses there had no real right to exist. They were based on land they got for free, water given almost without any charge, cheap Palestinian labor, and an almost absolute holiday from tax. Most of the businesses survived on subsidies from the state and cheap Arab labor, and now they expect the state to continue to give them the same conditions in the real world.

This is also the reason why offers of free land and a ten-year tax break don't satisfy them: Without the cheap Arab labor, the sewing shops of Erez cannot subsist, and to Israel's regret, it can't supply free Palestinians anymore.

Ha'aretz notes the Knesset has passed a bill that will pour another 3 to 7 billion NIS into compensation. Settlers advocates claim that amount is highly inflated. But, as Ha'aretz notes, one provision of that bill gives full retirement benefits to any settler over the age of 46, which itself costs 2 billion NIS.

You have a group of people who lived nearly for free. They had incredible tax breaks, almost free water, amazing subsidies for their businesses and schools. Yet most of those businesses were losing money, even though they relied heavily on cheap Palestinian labor. Worse yet, of the 30% of businesses that were actually profitable, a large number of them declared non-existent losses to cheat on their taxes.

And, to top it all off, the vast majority of these people did not leave voluntarily, and their expulsion cost the state millions of dollars, dollars that could have gone into compensation.

Their rabbis told them to fight expulsion and not to leave voluntarily. Their rabbis told them everything would be fine. Let their rabbis fund their rehabilitation.

February 21, 2007

Rabbi Avraham Ravitz, Knesset member from the haredi Degel Hatorah faction (controlled by Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv) of the United Torah Judaism party is interviewed in this week's Jewish Press. The key quotes:

All reports indicate a strong economy in Israel. But we also hear of great poverty.

The government has some new plans, including trying to encourage people to accept jobs that until now they didn’t want to take. And this will be sweetened with a negative income tax. If a person goes to work and makes a very low salary, below a certain level, not only won’t they have to pay income tax, but the government will give them money.

This is expected to take effect in a year. Excluded in this plan would be kollel young men. My plan is to have kollel men recognized as if they are working.

What are you trying to accomplish on this trip to the U.S.?

I was one of the founders of the city of Betar, a suburb of Jerusalem. The city has a large number of people devoted to Torah study. Many of these kollel families are now in financial crisis.

I would like to set up an international fund whereby people all over the world would contribute money to be used by these kollel families. There are 21 kollels in Betar supporting 500 families, so you can see that the need is great.

Anyone who is interested in my idea can contact me at the Knesset. I will respond to all inquiries.

Understand this well. This haredi MK wants to have kollel students receive their regular government stipend, all the welfare benefits they already receive, and also get money from the state as if they were actually working, sweeping the streets or as a laborer.

VosIzNeias is asking for calls to get those cellphone twoers installed on a stretch of NY state highway that has seen at least two recent deaths due to lack of cellphone coverage. The request is to call now:

Mr. Michael Balboni Deputy Secretary of Public Safety for the State of New York518 474 3522

An aide to the Spitzer administration’s public safety czar, Michael Balboni, said she has received “hundreds” of phone calls today from people who say they want cell towers installed on the Northway.

Most of the calls are originating from Brooklyn, the aide said, although some are coming from Montreal.

Many of the callers have Jewish last names, which stands to reason, since the Orthodox community has been pushing hard on this issue since the death in January of one of their own.

Alfred Langner was on his way back from a wedding in Montreal with his wife, Barbara, when his car slid off the Northway in Essex County and wasn’t discovered for more than 30 hours. His wife watched him die of hypothermia because she couldn’t get a signal to call for help.

Today’s campaign is being championed by an Orthodox Jewish blogger who has made this issue something of a cause celebre.

PETA has a new investigation on the mistreatment of chickens at Mepkin Abbey, a Christian monastery (Trappist) in South Carolina that sells eggs to make money. (Information and video here. Watch all of it. The last 30 seconds or so is the most shocking, even though it is not graphic.) What you see is standard for the egg industry, nothing more cruel than average. It's probably similar (or better than) what you would find at Rubashkin's chicken growing operations.

I post this for one reason. Nathan Lewin, Rubashkin's attorney and Agudah confidant, has continually compared PETA to the NAZIs, claiming PETA "targeted" kosher slaughter. Of course, PETA "targeted" Kentucky Fried Chicken and many other companies, but truth has never been Lewin's strong point. PETA's lead investigator on this project is a devout Roman Catholic, as is Bruce Friedrich, who heads this unit of PETA, as are many other PETA employees and activists. PETA, in fact, is chock full of Catholics and Jews – some devout, some lapsed, some in between.

The idea that PETA was "targeting" kosher slaughter was and remains preposterous. About the only "argument" left for Lewin to make is that PETA is really a secret branch of an international atheist's cabal. Look for that one the next time Rubashkin gets caught playing fast and loose with animal welfare law, humane slaughter regulations and halakha.

20 Difficult Questions & 20 Easy Answers - "The Top Twenty Questions that come up in Kiruv Encounters and How to Handle Them and the People Asking Them" …Wednesday, February 21st, sponsored by Project Inspire/Aish HaTorah. Presenter: Rabbi Moshe Zeldman, charismatic and popular teacher of Jewish Philosophy at Aish Jerusalem and international lecturer for the world-famous Discovery Seminar. The goal of the talk is to provide a starting point to get the asker to be intrigued into looking deeper, rather than comprehensive answers, and to get a person to realize that there "are" answers and that often the question is based on a misconception. At Congregation Bnai Yeshurun at 8:00 PM. For information on event or about Project Inspire - the grassroots Kiruv movement, contact Rabbi Matt Tropp…

It goes on to give his Aish HaTorah email address and phone number. [In spirit of full disclosure, Moshe Zeldman is an old friend of mine from my student activist days.]

Thursday, February 22 finds Tropp and Zeldman at another New Jersey event, oned that plays the Holocaust card:

The JEC and Aish HaTorah's Project Inspire will present a lecture by Rabbi Moshe Zeldman for the greater Elizabeth/Hillside community on Thursday evening, February 22nd, at the home of Tova and Ira Shulman, 231 Exeter Way in Hillside, beginning at 8PM. Rabbi Zeldman intends to explain a lot about the mitzva of kiruv, including its source(s), what it's all about, and why it is/should be quite an urgent issue for us -- his talk is entitled "Facing the Crisis of the Spiritual Holocaust – Kiruv: What is the Mitzva?"

Wyoming, it seems, is worried. Why? Because it has become a playground, so to speak, for convicted sex offenders, who flock there from all over the country because Wyoming places few restrictions on them:

…While other states often prohibit sex offenders from living near schools, daycare centers or other places with children, Wyoming has no such laws.

"They can live right next to a school if they want to. They can live in a home with children if they want to," said Laramie County sheriff's Sgt. Linda Gesell.

Also, unlike many other states, Wyoming does not require people convicted of indecent exposure or sexual battery to register as sex offenders. In addition, ex-convicts who are deemed low- and medium-risk offenders are not listed on the state's publicly accessible Web site.…

Wyoming also lacks a standardized system for accepting convictions from other states. That means authorities must obtain court papers on each sex offender before determining the corresponding Wyoming crime and deciding whether that person must register. That can cause long delays, because only one person is in charge of such efforts.

"It becomes daunting," said that person, Bob Brackett, program manager for the Wyoming sex offender registry.…

"They look around for states that do not have the strongest laws, because if you can go someplace and you don't have to be a registered sex offender, you don't have to check in with authorities, obviously from their perspective that's a better situation," Wyoming's attorney general said.

Now substitute "haredi" for "Wyoming" and "communities and schools" for "states," and reread the the quote. Haredim have no registry of sex abusers, their schools are not mandated to do background checks, they resisted making clergy mandatory reporters, they have no central database or investigatory authority and they tend not to cooperate with police.

Are there more abusers in the haredi community per capita than average? I don't know. Statistics do not exist, in large part because haredim will not cooperate in gathering them. But, if Wyoming's example is any guide, one would think there would be. One would also think there would be more and more prolonged abuse, as well – especially when you factor in the rabbinic old boy's network that consistently sweeps abuse under the rug.

RebelJew has an incisive post on rabbis – Chabad rebbes prominent among them – who told their followers to remain in Europe rather than escape to life and freedom in America or Israel:

Around the Chabad observance of Yud Shvat (the yahrzeit of the 6th Rebbe), much discussion is expended on the Holocaust, anti-Zionism, mesiras nefesh, and particularly, the ultra-frum response that kept hundreds of thousands from fleeing Europe. The 6th Rebbe of Chabad indeed advised that, given the proper service of Jews, there might be no war.…Other gedolim advised their followers to stay, counseling that a secular Zionist Israel or a free America would cause damage to the people's frumkeit. Similarly, at Chaf Dalet Teves, the yahrzeit of the first Chabad Rebbe, much discussion centers on the fact that the first Rebbe supported the oppresive Czar over the forces of egalite' under Bonaparte.

As a justification in these cases, Chabadniks will point out that frumkeit remained strong in Russia, but it did not in France. Similarly, they felt it was better for the people to die in Europe than to live in America and risk diminishing their Jewish observance.…

RebelJew points out that France at the time of Napoleon was not "frum," and that nothing much is left of pre-war European Jewish learning, while yeshivot flourish in Israel and are supported by the government there, and America has an exponentially growing, flourishing haredi community.

He also writes:

However, my question is on the logic. Since when do we push away pikuach nefesh vadai on a safek (perhaps they will lapse in frumkeit). Would not a better course have been to save themselves and the people and then attend to them in the new places with extra kiruv, extra leadership, as has occurred thoughout the history of Judaism? Now, we get to the real point. Did these Rabanim not have faith in their own ability to lead? Did they prefer millions of dead Jews or Jews living in squalor and oppression to having to face up to their own insecurity in their abilities to shepherd the flock? Was it more important to keep them nursing from pure dogma than to save them from almost certain death?

And this is the question I would like you to answer: Better dead than Reform? Is there any defense for this behavior by Chabad rebbes and other gedolim? I don't think so. Do you?

The Arab militias that have so terrorized the residents of the Darfur region of Sudan are reported to be massing in large numbers. While their purpose is not clear, Reuters reports:

…"They are massing ... they have vehicles with machineguns
on top and they're janjaweed. We can't say what their
intentions are," said the source, who asked not to be named.

The source declined to give numbers, but described the
forces gathered as a "huge amount of personnel," with pickup
trucks, camels and horses.

He added that an African Union helicopter was keeping the
forces under aerial surveillance and the government was being
notified. The Sudanese military could not be reached for
comment.

Rights group and Western governments say the Sudanese
government has used the janjaweed as auxiliaries against Darfur
rebels and civilians suspected of rebel sympathies. The
government denies this and says the janjaweed are outlaws.

On Monday, a report by the U.N. Mission in Sudan said that
"armed militia have been mobilizing in large numbers over the
last five days in the general area of Abou Souroug and Sliea
(approximately 50 km north of el-Geneina). The reason behind
the massive militia mobilization is so far not known."…

Their intentions may not be "known" but, if history is any guide, those intentions are not good.

A rabbi in Los Angeles has apparently stolen four Torah scrolls from a widow. The LA Daily News reports:

…[F]or the past decade, Beth Midrash Mishkan Israel in Sherman Oaks has been "praying on stolen Torahs," said Rita Pauker, whose late husband, Rabbi Norman Pauker, lent the Orthodox synagogue four Torahs in the late 1990s.

Since her husband died in 2002, Pauker has repeatedly implored Rabbi Samuel Ohana to return the Torahs so she can give them to two nephews, rabbis in Florida and New York.

Ohana has refused, saying the scrolls belong to the congregation. In a brief phone interview Monday, he said Rabbi Pauker gifted the Torahs years after he closed his North Hollywood synagogue, similarly named Congregation Mishkan Israel, in 1994.

"He called me in front of his wife and he said, `Rabbi, I cannot bear having these Torahs gathering dust in my garage. Take them. Please,"' he said.

Ohana said he would return the Torahs if Pauker's widow could prove she was going to give them to another synagogue and not sell them. Three of them are likely worth about $10,000 to $20,000 each.

The dispute, deadlocked for the past two years, seems ripe for civil court. But it likely won't go there.

The only attorney Pauker can afford is Jeffrey Bohrer, a longtime member of her husband's synagogue (and coincidentally a former yeshiva student of Ohana's). But Jewish law prohibits Bohrer from bringing a lawsuit regarding a religious article in secular court.

Pauker could take the case to beis din, a rabbinical court, but neither she nor Bohrer has faith in the tribunal process.

"It has been my experience that the beis din is more interested in compromise than in the word of Jewish law," Bohrer said. "... The truth is the beis din probably is going to split the baby. Rabbi Ohana has no claim to these, and Rita has all claim. So it is unfair for Rita to settle for half."…

Rabbi Pauker's Torahs were originally donated decades ago by his sister to Young Israel of the Bronx. When the organization closed, the scrolls were given to Pauker.…

When he retired in 1994 and closed his synagogue, Pauker transferred ownership of most of the assets to Ohana, including the ark, prayer shawls and religious books.

But the Torahs, according to a handwritten contract between Pauker and Ohana, were to be loaned for two years. At the bottom of the page is Ohana's signature.

However, Ohana said the contract was for insurance purposes, and five years later Pauker asked him to take the Torahs and put them to good use.

"He is disrespecting everything Jewish," was Rita Pauker's response. "He is operating on a lie. It's all a lie."

Rabbi Ohana's son Ephraim has been put in cherem (excommunicated) by the Baltimore Va'ad HaRabbonim because he has refused to give his wife a get (Jewish divorce).

Rabbi Ohana himself was involved in a shady scheme to allow the son of David Batzri, a leading Sefardic rabbi and kabbalist (the man who blamed Hurricane Katrina on America's support for Disengagement), to remarry without giving his first wife a Jewish divorce:

…At the end of November, Luna suddenly received two summonses from another beit din in Los Angeles, one that is headed by Rabbi Samuel Ohana. She explains that it is a Sephardi beit din, in which it is easier to receive a permit to marry a second wife, because it is not subject to the ostracism regulation against polygyny enacted by Rabbeinu Gershom (960-1028 C.E.). This applies only to Ashkenazi communities, and so absolving Hagay Batzri from having to obtain the "consent of 100 rabbis" to approve a second marriage. Luna replied, in writing, that the beit din was not recognized in Israel and therefore had no jurisdiction to rule on the get.

Rabbi Eliyahu Ben-Dahan, the director general of the rabbinical court system in Israel, confirms that Rabbi Ohana received authorization to serve as a dayan only two months ago. In effect, the marriage between Hagay and Luna Batzri was dissolved on behalf of the beit din by Rabbi Moshe Ben-Zaken, who is not even a dayan.

Three weeks ago, Luna learned from posters adorning the walls of synagogues in Los Angeles that her husband Hagay was about to marry a second wife. It is easy to imagine the shock felt by the 36-year-old religious woman, who is of sound body and mental state, at the sight of the posters. She says she happened to meet Rabbi Ben-Zaken, whom she knows, at a restaurant close to her home. "Who gave him permission to marry a second wife?" she asked him. "I did," said the rabbi.…

…"I sat in the synagogue during the Kabbalat Shabbat service and I said to myself: Is it real? After all, there are no Jews in Lublin, where did they come from?" said Yakub Weksler, a 63-year-old resident of the city, with excitement. "Until now I would just walk by this building, and now it will be a true home, a home of prayer."

Yakub Weksler is not exactly his name. He grew up with the name Romuald Waskinel, and he discovered his Jewish roots when he was 35 years old, after 12 years as a Catholic priest. His Polish mother revealed to him that during the war, his biological mother had entrusted him to her. She didn't remember his parents' name or where they came from. In 1992, Waskinel discovered he is the son of Yankel and Batya Weksler, and he found two of his uncles in Israel. He adopted his father's first name, Yakub.

His identity is split. Only after consulting with pope John Paul II did he decide to continue serving as a priest. Today he is a philosophy professor at the Lublin Catholic University, and accompanies groups to the Maidanek concentration camp, where his parents were murdered. He defines himself as "a Jew, the son of Jesus the Jew."

Waskinel-Weksler attended Sunday's ceremony at the synagogue wearing priestly robes and a black knitted skullcap. "God puts little people like you and me to the test, but we must remain as faithful to him as we can," he said. He considers himself a loyal Catholic as well as one of the Jews of Lublin, and is concerned that the new synagogue will not have a minyan of 10 worshipers for Shabbat prayers. "I have a prayer book, but the problem is that I don't know how to pray," he replied in response to the question of whether he would join the minyan.…

I have two hypothetical questions:

Would it have been better for this man to have died as an infant at the hand of the Nazis rather than live his life as a Catholic priest?

If you answered yes, why did you do so? Do you have sources to support you? If you answered no, why? Do you have sources to support you? Either way, please cite those sources.

February 19, 2007

[Rabbi] Shmuel Kaminetzky [senior leader of Agudath Israel of America and the rosh yeshiva of the Yeshiva of Philidelphia] knew that Rabbi Moshe Eiseman was a pedophile some 35 years ago when numerous boys came forward in the Yeshiva Of Philadelphia. So did [Rabbi] Elya Svei [formerlly head of Agudath Israel of America's rabbinic arm and of Torah Umesora, the national Agudah-linked day school organization]. I spoke to and communicated with many of those boys who are now in their sixties. There is irrefutable evidence that Eiseman was sent to Ner Israel in Baltimore because Kaminetzky and Svei were afraid their business, aka yeshiva, would be tarnished.

Kaminetzky sat smiling on the Agudah dais Fress Convention nodding approvingly of [Rabbi] Mattisyahu Salomon's "under the rug-dignity-daas Torah-beat the shit out of the Bloggers" speech!

So now Eiseman is in Baltimore doing his thing, Kaminetzky's son in-law Tzvi Berkowitz, a rebbe in Ner Israel is told by more than a few boys some 20 years ago that Eiseman molested them. His response; "don't tell anyone, the yeshiva could get hurt." Any rational person would safely assume that Berkowitz discussed this with Kaminetzky. Nothing! Eiseman remains, and is promoted to a mashgiach ruchni of sorts, now he has access to the ENTIRE high school.

I called Shmuel Kaminetzky about a year ago under a pseudonym of the son of one of his benefactors. I asked him squarely; my son is in Torah Temimah, should I be concerned that Kolko has interaction with my son.

His response and I paraphrase; "The Jews have the ability to do teshuva even in cases of this nature; unless there were very recent credible accusations against Kolko, WE MUST ASSUME HE DID TESHUVA!"

I then asked him would he permit his grandchild to be in the privacy of Kolko's office; he asked for my phone number and would not answer the question. I hung up!

Debbie Fox in L.A. has Shmuel Kaminetzky reviewing the video presentation for viewing by children. What are Kaminetzky's qualifications?

DID HE DO TESHUVA? DID HE APOLOGIZE TO ALL OF THE VICTIMS OF MOSHE EISEMAN THAT HE WAS AWARE OF? DID HE TELL HIS SON IN-LAW TZVI BERKOWITZ TO APOLOGIZE TO THE VICTIMS OF MOSHE EISEMAN?

Nothing much has really changed, other than spinning it differently!

RABBIS THAT ARE NOT PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED IN SEXUAL ABUSE ISSUES HAVE NO RIGHT TO GO ANYWHERE NEAR THIS ISSUE!…

[Rabbis] Dovid and Reuvain Feinstein were aware 20 years ago that a young child in their family was molested by Kolko. Their excuse, they did not want to go up against Margulies. These two are the "best" of what we have as rabbis today.…

I must note that I have no personal knowledge relating to Rabbi Eiseman or the case in the Feinstein family.

Why is the law collection that makes up parshas Mishpatim addressed to people who live in houses, and not tents?

Why
is the Torah talking to a type of society that hadn't yet come into
being? And if we're meant to extrapolate from the cases given in the
Torah, why isn't there any mention of commerce? There are no merchants,
and no artisans. Everyone is presumed to be a farmer who owns sheep,
oxen and slaves. Strange. Very strange.…

DNA posted this answer (he is being sarcastic, but this is the standard answer given in yeshivot) on DovBear:

That's simple. You see every time the torah talks about something which
didn't yet exist at the time of moshe, it was a book written with
prophecy and written for future generations as well.

And
every time it seems outmoded and only to deal with ancient
circumstances which are irrelevant, or even barbaric, by modern
standards, that's because it was written for that time.…

In other words, when the Torah fails we say it was written for a time long ago. Where it succeeds in "predicting" the future, we say it proves God's existence and his Authorship of the Torah. Can't get more closed circle than that.

As most of you probably know, Orthomom's blog host (Blogger, owned by Goggle) is being sued by an elected official upset with comments left about her on Orthomom's blog. This is a frivolous suit, so ridiculous that I did not intend to even mention it. It has no legal merit and it flies in the face of the open and democratic ethos this nation was founded with.

The authors of the Federalist Papers, originally published as pamphlets and broadsheets, were for the most part anonymous. They – the Founders of this country – wrote free speech protection into our founding documents.

Elected officials are fair game. Only provable, malicious misrepresentations of fact are actionable. The comments on Orthomom (to this post) do not in any way meet that requirement.

The elected official, Pamela Greenbaum, should know better. If she does not, she needs to get an education. If she does, she is maliciously misusing the legal system. Greenbaum sits on the Lawrence, NY school board.

UPDATE: It seems the real point of this disgusting meritless lawsuit is to out orthomom during pre-trial disclousre. This is a terrible misuse of the legal system, and it should be exposed as such. I also urge readers in Lawrence to consider a recall drive to get Greenbaum removed from public office. This should be done no matter whether one supports or opposes her positions on the interface of public and private religious schools.

An Austrian rabbi, Moshe Israelov, was caught smuggling drugs into a Austrian prision. This is the second time the rabbi has been caught doing this. What will happen to him? Nothing, it seems, because the rabbi is a bit of a naive dupe. TotallyJewish reports:

…Prison guard Franz Tuczai noticed that Israelov had two packs of Dunhill cigarettes underneath a stack of religious magazines that he had with him.

Tuczai immediately stopped him, searched the cigarette packs and found the cigarettes were half filled with tobacco and half filled with an illegal drug. Prison authorities have refused to disclose what it was.

Prison spokesman Karl Aichinger said that Israelov had once before tried to smuggle an illegal drug into the prison. Despite massive intercession by the Austrian Jewish Community (IKG) on Israelov's behalf, prison officials banned the rabbi from the prison for six months.

The second incident was Israelov’s first visit to the prison after the expiration of the ban. Police have questioned him about the provenance of the drug and about whom he intended to give it to.

According to IKG Secretary General Raimund Fastenbauer, Israelov was asked by the family of the prisoner whom he intended to visit to give the cigarettes to him but was unaware of the contents of the two packs. However, it is illegal in Austria to give cigarettes to a prisoner.

Fastenbauer said: “For us, Rabbi Israelov remains a reputable person. I cannot imagine him doing anything like that on purpose. Maybe he is too gullible.”

Israelov was later released by police without charge…

Rabbi Israelov is the rabbi of the Bukharian Synagogue and gives kosher supervision to at least one restaurant.

Rabbi Gil Student notes that Shira Leibowitz Schmidt of CrossCurrents infamy wrote an op-ed for the JTA defending the so-called mehadrin buses in Israel. These are the buses that require women to sit at the back of the bus, and are the subject of a lawsuit brought by women, including author Naomi Ragen, who seek to stop these gender separated buses.

…I often sympathize with the plight of apologists (a term that I do not
use in a derogatory fashion), who sometimes find themselves defending
practices that they find offensive in the name of the greater communal
good. Regarding this case, I almost sympathized with Schmidt. But when
she claimed that this practice empowers women, she lost me.

Separate
seating does not empower women. It doesn't have to weaken them either,
if the community is sufficiently responsible. Israeli society is
definitely not sufficiently responsible, including (or especially) the
Charedi community. I don't claim that women are routinely beaten or
humiliated on buses, but anyone who has been in Israel for more than 25
seconds recognizes that politeness... I can't continue this sentence
because it is too painful. But you know what I mean.

Separate
seating does not empower women. A can of mace and a scream of "Rape!
Call the police!" empowers women, and that is what I would recommend
for any woman riding the buses in Jerusalem who is not willing to
change her seat on demand.

This is the first time in months that I find myself agreeing with Gil Student, who also notes that the Israeli haredi community has a very difficult time controling its hooligans, and has had this trouble for many years.

…While the case is an old one, the resignation of [police commissioner] Mr. [Moshe] Karadi is the latest scandal in an Israel reeling from accusations of illegal behavior among those in high office. The cases range from a possible rape charge against President Moshe Katsav to various accusations of corruption by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and by his suspended office director, who is under house arrest as part of an expanding investigation into the tax authority. The finance minister, Abraham Hirshson, is being investigated in another case involving embezzlement at a nonprofit organization.

Mr. Olmert’s predecessor, Ariel Sharon, was widely suspected of political corruption [as were Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu] and Mr. Sharon’s son, Omri, has been sentenced to jail, although he is free because his father is in a coma.

Last month, a former justice minister, Haim Ramon, was found guilty by a court of indecent behavior for kissing a young female soldier against her will, and there have been accusations of illegal behavior made against top religious figures, as well. [Including both {haredi} chief rabbis. And then we have the 'normal' corruption of the political parties, including the haredi parties, and the general stealing so common in the haredi world – tax cheating, white collar crime, fraud and theft from non-haredim.]

The spate of investigations is seen by many here as an effort to change a tradition of political corruption, especially in political fund-raising.…

Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, ztz"l, is known to have said that it is the stealing and robbery so common in Jewish life that holds back the coming of the messiah. He apparently reached this conclusion late in his life, after the passing of his wife, and he was addressing himself specifically to haredi crime, but his message applies across the board.

Whether we are speaking about Brooklyn-based mass haredi welfare fraud or the actions of senior Israeli rabbis and politicians, one thing is certain – the non-Jewish world learns to view us all as theives and liars.

The shanda for the goyyim is not that these crimes have been made public – it is that these crimes took place in a Jewish society that tolerated them.

Remember the flawed circumcision deal promoted by then-NY State Commissioner of Health Antonia Novello? The one that experts said would not reduce the risk of herpes transmission?

Antonia Novello and her former boss George Pataki are in the news this morning for sending hundreds of thousands of healthcare dollars out of the country. They also, gave Kiryas Joel, the Satmar village known for its corruption and its block-voting, 1.5 million dollars for a "home for postpartum mothers." The money was drawn from a fund meant to pay for health related emergencies, and was given at a time when Novello was being touted by Pataki as a candidate for US Senate.

What follows is Rabbi J. David Bleich's overview of the halakhot regarding Ethiopian Jews, excerpted from Contemporary Halakhic Problems (Volume 1), published by KTAV and Yeshiva University in 1977. I used OCR software to scan this, so if you note any errors please post them in the comments to this post or email me. I have added my own notes when necessary. To read Rabbi Bleich's article, please click the link below:

Maran HaRav Yosef Sholom Eliashiv shlita announced that parents who use unapproved cell phones, which have been known to cause numerous stumbling-blocks, may not be able to enroll their children at talmudei Torah, girls' schools, girls' seminars and other educational institutions around the country.

"Parents who use cell phones that are not approved, thereby removing themselves from the chareidi public which has joined together to root out the [problem], may not be able to enroll their children at educational institutions," read the notice issued by Maran.

The call drew positive responses from the chareidi public and raised awareness among those who have yet to trade in their cell phones and purchase models approved by Vaadas HaRabbonim LeInyonei Tikshores.

Teachers and other educators have been warning for several years about the numerous stumbling-blocks created by new technological dangers. In many cases, years of chinuch were lost. Recently principals recalled that when the chareidi public united to fight against the introduction of television into homes decades ago students with televisions in their homes were not admitted into educational institutions after the devastating effect of television viewing was proven beyond a doubt.

The current move is intended to set clear limits in order to prevent breaches and safeguard our children. During enrollment, educational institutions are now asking parents to sign a statement that they do not use unapproved cell phones.

What's wrong with the unapproved cellphones? They connect to the Internet.

February 16, 2007

Amsinover (via DovBear) has found a recording of Hatikva sung by Bergen-Belson prisoners days after their liberation. This scene was repeated in other death camps and work camps across formerly-Nazi-occupied Europe. Survivors almost universally understood that only a Jewish state could hope to protect Jews. They did not seek to return to Bobov, Belz, Lubavitch, Satmar or Munkatch. They wanted out – either to Israel (then Palestine) or to America. They sought a new paradigm. Why? Because the old paradigm was broken.

I hesitate to use the Holocaust to illustrate this point. But haredim use the Holocaust to recruit new members (ba'alei teshuva; BTs), and to raise money. We are told our donations help to "rebuild the lost world" destroyed in the Holocaust and that conversion to haredism helps "prove Hitler wrong."

The success of post-war haredim has been to take a small number of people, marry them off very early, have massive numbers of children, and multiply. It is a success only if measured in raw numbers, as a simple head count.

Haredim have cured no diseases, invented no lifesaving equipment, developed no modern technology; they create few jobs and most often do not have the education and skills to work in the modern world. They rely on welfare and government grants. They are a society of great need that gives little back – except babies.

The singing of Hatikva by survivors was more than hope for the creation of a Jewish state; it was a rejection of a failed paradigm (although not a rejection of those who had followed it). Haredim cling to that paradigm and make it even more extreme than it was in pre-Holocaust Europe, and we – through our tax dollars and donations – pay the bill.

VosIzNeias is asking for help in its campaign to get cellphone towers erected on stretch of NY state highway frequented by haredim. There have been two deaths – one haredi, one non-Jewish – in the last few weeks because there is no cellphone coverage in that area.

Following press reports, some of them wildly inaccurate, about the recent tragic death of a baby boy in the community, the following briefing document has been prepared setting out the known facts relating to this matter:

The Brit Milah of an eight-day-old baby boy took place at Golders Green United Synagogue on Thursday, 1 Feb 2007.

The circumcision was carried out by a qualified and experienced mohel (circumciser) who has been trained and licensed by the official body, the Initiation Society.

The circumcision was carried out in the presence of a number of people in the normal way and with no visible problems. The baby was then nursed by his mother.

About 15 minutes after the ceremony the baby was observed not to be breathing normally.

A consultant physician was present at the event and provided immediate medical support and resuscitation. An emergency ambulance was called and the baby was taken to the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead.

Later he was transferred to UCLH where he received treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit.

The baby passed away on Friday, 9 February 2007 and a post mortem was carried out.

The results of the post mortem have not yet been made public. As is usual, under such circumstances, the matter was notified to the coroner.

The Board of Deputies coordinated a very helpful meeting on Thursday, 15 February with officers at New Scotland Yard in order to ensure that the community and the police are working together on this issue. The police are currently gathering information through a specialist unit that responds to all instances of sudden and unexpected deaths of children less than two years of age.

The local synagogue community in Golders Green has provided unstinting support for the family over the past two weeks.

The Medical Officer of the Initiation Society, Dr J. Spitzer, understands from reports received from the mohel and those present, including the consultant physician, that no causal link has been established between the circumcision and the subsequent death of the baby.

The Board of Deputies is liaising with all parts of the Jewish Community and is coordinating press and public comment.

February 15, 2007

On Feb. 14, the Interior Ministry said 6,899 legitimate petitioners remain in Gondar, the Ethiopian city where the vast majority of petitioners now live. Of those, 1,468 have been approved and will be brought to Israel in coming months. The number of eligible aliyah petitioners left in Addis Ababa is negligible.…

Both Ethiopian advocates … and the Interior Ministry base their numbers on a 1999 census conducted by a former Israeli official named David Efrati. That census originally counted some 27,000 Ethiopian candidates for aliyah, but the Interior Ministry said the list shrunk to some 17,000 once the Israeli government made clear its criteria for aliyah.

In intervening years the list has grown by some 3,000 as a result of natural growth, the ministry said.

In all, 11,264 Ethiopians have come to Israel since 2004, according to the Interior Ministry. This week’s move is a sign that the ministry is serious about its plan to end mass Ethiopian aliyah once all those eligible from the 1999 group are brought to Israel.

The controversy in Israel over the aliyah of these Ethiopians, known as Falash Mura, stems from lingering doubts over their Jewishness…

The Falash Mura claim they are descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity several generations ago due to social and economic pressures.…

Some veteran Ethiopian immigrants say the Falash Mura are opportunists or phonies exploiting the system to get to Israel, even though they have been accepted as Jews by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate and the three major American Jewish religious movements.…

…In my opinion, the answer is simple, and you've heard me say it before: It's all about the money.

When a Torah observant couple sits down to dinner at a kosher restaurant, they have the right to expect that every aspect of their experience be within the bounds of Torah law and values, from the food they eat to the music they hear to the attire of their waitress. To the customers of these establishments, anything not conforming to halachic norms would be a negative reflection on both the establishment and the Kashrut agency.

So in effect, the agencies can't afford NOT to enforce these requirements on their restaurants and caterers. Failure to do so would cause them to lose the public's trust, which would ultimately result in loss of business for the agencies.

But while restaurants and caterers may be the bread and butter of the Kashrut industry, the large manufacturers are their champagne and steak. To lose a restaurant's business would amount to pocket change compared to losing a chocolate manufacturer, beverage bottler, or meat packer.

And since the public doesn't actually see what goes on behind the scenes at these plants, the popular slogan of Sin City manages to apply itself to these manufacturers: “What happens in Postville stays in Postville.”

But not for long.

Thanks to The Forward and other Jewish publications, the public is now very much aware of the goings on at these facilities. And it is up to each and every one of us to let the Kashrut agencies know that preventing the implementation of a Tsedek Hekhsher would be just as much a violation of our trust as offering certification to the local Hooters.…

Failed messiah was established and run in 2004 by Mr. Shmarya (Scott)Rosenberg. The site was acquired by Diversified Holdings, Feb 2016. .We thank Mr. Rosenberg for his efforts on behalf of the Jewish Community.

Comment Rules

No anonymous comments.

Use only one name or alias and stick with that.

Do not use anyone else's name or alias.

Do not sockpuppet.

Try to argue using facts and logic.

Do not lie.

No name-calling, please.

Do not post entire articles or long article excerpts.

***Violation of these rules may lead to the violator's comments being edited or his future comments being banned.***